HM505 - 505 Explorations (2017)

Hm505 is the alias of Chicago producer, Hakim Murphy. 505 Explorations sounds deceptively simple and raw. This is a raw Chicago House record, but one sounding like it has been bleeped from the future to us. Like the early Detroit Techno records, this music leaves you wondering where it's from, who made it, when they made it…and Where Can I Get It?!

Hakim is a producer/DJ from the Chicago area who's musical style ranges from house to techno. His journey began as a dancer in Chicago and therefore it may be no surprise that a lot of his musical influences come from Larry Heard, Robert Armani, Dance Mania, Relief and Cajual records. As a Chicago footwork dancer, Hakim gradually became inspired by the music and began playing records in 1996. Since then he has ventured into production work and eventually founded two records labels in 2008: Machining Dreams; and Synapsis Records with Avondale Music Society.

With many releases under his belt for labels such as Metamorphic, Synapsis, and Planet Detroit or his collaborative projects such as Innerspace Halflife, Dream Scoring and Pegasus Heat, Hakim’s production output has steadily grown in stature. Now Hakim Murphy has put on his white coat and gone into the music lab to make an HM505 record. What he's come out with is quite breathtaking.

"The name HM505 comes from the university system in the USA. 505 signifies a Masters degree course, and HM505 is me bringing together the culmination of all my techniques. I have a Batchelors degree in music composition, but getting suited up as HM505 feels like I’m further ahead than that. I record a specific way as HM505, I create some sounds, a groove and some drums. The synth sounds come from everywhere, like an iPad or a DAW, or a synth, but I import all those sounds into an MPC and then I add a drum machine and record all of it live with a Kaoss pad for augmentation. Essentially the Kaoss pad adds an extra dimension to the music that is critical to the HM505 sound.”

From the subtle and ethereal flowing pads of ‘Memory Gland’ to the muddled echo chamber resonance of ‘Camera Angle’ and the mutated acid house of ‘Hilt’d’ Hakim Murphy takes us on a truly maverick house exploration.